The work of changing Europe must start now

The Euro election results prove that there has never been a better time to
shake up Brussels, or a longer list of reasons to try

Britain’s relationship with Europe needs to change. That fact has long been obvious to most people, but the European elections have rammed home its importance. It is not just that Ukip performed so well. It is that the Liberal Democrats did so badly. Faced with a collapse in support since entering the Coalition, Nick Clegg and his team abandoned their traditional local-first campaign strategy and presented themselves as unabashed Europhiles, the defenders and saviours of Britain’s place in the European Union. For their trouble, they were spectacularly thumped.

The Conservative argument, in the wake of their first third-place finish in more than a century, is that they understand this completely: they are, after all, the only party that is both offering a referendum on Europe, and has a chance of bringing it about. That is true – but it is no longer sufficient. Voters need proof not just that David Cameron will offer them a choice, but that he is actively striving to pave the way for it.

What does this mean? Perhaps the greatest problem facing the Tories in winning back voters who have defected to Ukip is an absence of trust. When the Prime Minister says: “Have faith that I will negotiate in Britain’s interests”, many will be sceptical, or even scornful. In particular, the longer he refuses to set out his shopping list, or at least his broad aims, the more the suspicion will grow that what he has in mind is not so much renegotiation as tinkering at the edges.

There is no need, as some have suggested, for Mr Cameron to bring forward his proposed referendum from 2017. It would be actively foolish to put Britain’s membership to a vote before there had been time to negotiate a better deal. But it would be equally misguided to wait until after the general election to begin grappling with the issue in earnest.

By setting the process of negotiation in train now, Mr Cameron will show voters that he is a man who delivers on his promises. There are other advantages. Europe is reeling from elections that showed the established order under threat from all sides. The eurozone crisis, and the subsequent economic stagnation, have shaken many people’s faith in the project. As Boris Johnson wrote yesterday, even Nicolas Sarkozy now sees the virtue in devolving power to nation-states, and restricting the movement of economic migrants. No longer can Mr Cameron, or Britain, be dismissed as isolated and misguided: our calls for change have instead proved prophetic.

In domestic terms, the move would also be to the Tories’ advantage. Ukip can hardly oppose it, given that it pushes Britain towards a referendum. The Lib Dems have lost the moral authority to object, after this weekend’s humiliation. And if Labour refuse to back the Prime Minister, they will be handing him a priceless electoral gift. It will also help the Tories hone their own message on Europe, which at the moment seems to echo Richard Nixon’s on Vietnam. He promised to end the war, but told voters he could not reveal the details of his strategy for fear of tipping his hand. They trusted him then; but Britons will be less willing to endorse Mr Cameron’s blueprint for Brussels without insight as to its detail.

The idea would also address another weakness in the Tories’ European strategy. Voters know they want change – but they are unable to see how politicians can deliver it. Mr Cameron has spoken of curbing benefit tourism, and removing the treaty requirement for “ever closer union”. Both would be welcome – but it is hard to see them resonating in the same way as, for example, limiting immigration from the EU’s poorer members (which is currently impossible). Starting the process now buys Mr Cameron time to make the case in Brussels for more dramatic changes – and to make the link in Britain between EU reform and pound-in-your-pocket politics, such as the money on food bills saved by fixing farming policy, or the lower costs to business brought about by slashing red tape.

Mr Cameron and his fellow European leaders must now begin to chew over the election results, and begin the process of choosing the European Commission’s new bosses. He should make clear that the message sent by voters across the Continent needs to be heard – and acted on. There has never been a better time to shake up Brussels, or a longer list of reasons to try.